About this girl they call Mina.

Mina turns Three today! THREE!!!! 

Where has my little girl gone. 

I remember when she looked like this: 

my itty bitty 7lb 11oz babe. 

I could never imagine her growing into THIS GIRL:

A girl who is OBSESSED with daddy. He is her "buddy" Mommy is her "baby" but Daddy is her "Buddy". She loves to do things with him. She gets so excited when he comes home! 

Mina loves music and loves her aunts and uncles. This is from when she got to see her Uncle play in the marching band! Mina's current favorite songs are Boom Clap, Shake it Off, Ain't it Fun, and Madness.

Mina loves to be outside. She loves Water. She loves to help mow the lawn and chase grasshoppers.

Mina loves to wear socks on her hands. She calls them her Guh-loves. a LOT of nights she wants to wear them to bed. She will go to the grocery store in them and everything. I am glad she is unique and quirky. I wouldn't have it any other way.

My beautiful baby turning into a beautiful young girl. 

her current favorite words/phrases:

For example

Nannylicious (my mom)

Grandude (my dad)

___, you are so great, good  choice

___ you are beautiful

Evan is my brudder? or is he my sister? 

No Evbot, you wittle stinkhead

her current favorite movies/ shows:

SuperWhy

Nightmare Before Christmas

 (random note, I hadn't seen this in years, Izzy showed it to her and now she is OBSESSED with this movie.)

Clifford

Despicable Me 2

Wreck-It Ralph

Up

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

her favorite books:

Good Night Gorilla

Anything Dr Seuss

Anything Eric Carle

Five little monkeys

Anything with trucks in it

Happy 3rd Mina Mooseph.

Reference 2009-Present

While bitten by the blogging bug I'm going to add one more post. Actually, I'm doing this because it's almost 3pm and my kids are still asleep so I have some time to myself. I'm going to write about my wife because I don't think many people have heard my side of our relationship and I can brag about her accomplishments for her. Lets face it, we all know that people who talk about their own accomplishments are narcissistic d-bags that toot their own horn one too many times. Plus, I'm pretty quiet and reserved and up until now readers are probably like, "what?! Jessa has a husband, I've heard of him but never seen him or knew he really existed." Well, these questions can be answered because I'm only slightly overshadowed by my social pariah of a wife. Plus, I'm like a dog who only comes out of kennel when someone says the word "frisbee."

But joking aside (joking not fully aside) if you know Jessa, and I'd like to believe I kind of know her now after six years of being together, then you know she is the real deal. I'm writing this now because of her nose to the grindstone tenacious work ethic. Jessa knows how to hustle. She has been presented with a fantastic opportunity that she earned by working her butt off. Not only that but an opportunity that she feels will make a difference in other peoples' lives. 

I met Jessa almost six years ago when she helped push my brother's car out of a snowy ditch. Even then she was making a difference in two people's lives, namely, mine and my hard of hearing brother. To make a long story short I fell in love with an incredible woman and birth mother. Little did I know that being a birth mother was/is as much a part of her as being human. It is characteristic that makes up Jessa's personality. Jessa is probably the most genuinely caring and giving person I have ever met. I'm not kidding when I write this, If Jessa could she would adopt every baby or child in foster care. Countless times when I have come home from school or work there has been a new animal that she found without an owner. I have made her get rid of the animal every time but if I'm to be honest with myself, I really do love that about her. She wants everyone to have a loving home. Even the most pathetic, sickly, and ugliest of Gods four legged creatures to ever walk the face of the earth deserve a loving home. Jessa and I have also had people live with us for most of our marriage. I'm not talking about our kids, I'm talking about vagrant wanderers that were competent enough to put an add on craigslist (that was a joke). Our doors have been open for tenants since 2009. She is always willing to help someone out and loves to do it.

Jessa jokes with me that I am a better stay at home parent that she is but it's not true. Yes, I am very much a helicopter parent and am borderline obsessive compulsive about cleanliness but she is a fantastic mother to our children. Jessa loves to play with our kids and probably buys them a toy most every time they go to the store because she can't say "no". I can't really say it either, kids just have that effect on parents. Jessa's list of accomplishments are vast, five years military service, birth mother, mother of two, advocate of open adoption, plethora of business ventures, and the greatest accomplishment of all, she married one cynical sarcastic individual. 

I just wanted to post this because I'm very proud of your accomplishments and you deserve this new job. You earned it and worked your butt off for it. I don't really know if people think about gender rolls often but I'm comfortable being a stay at home dad for the next little while. I still have more schooling to finish up and you sacrificed a lot by dropping out of college to raise our kids so that I could finish my degree. Even that didn't stop you from chasing your passions with adoption advocacy. So congrats Jessa and thanks for being patient with me, I know this past year was a tough one for you. Cheers, here's to sunny souther California and the next adventure that awaits. All my love!

Homage to Logan

Although this blog began when Jessa and I were first married this is my first ever blog post. It has been a long time coming. I have never done this before and this post is really for meant to be a memory for myself and hopefully Jessa will enjoy. I apologize for those that follow Jessa and those that are used to her writing style, I don't have a clear direction for this so it might get a little off track and disjointed. So now that I have made clear how my audience is I want to try to compose some things that really capture my love for the city of Logan. I will attempt to write more about Logan itself and some things that I have come to love.

I moved to Logan in January 2009 from Portland, OR to start school at USU. I thought Logan was a quiet little city and much more rural than I was accustomed to. I have spent the last five years of my life here and when I look back it's crazy how different my life is now compared to that single kid clear back in '09. I didn't know it but I met my wife two months after moving here. Believe me there will be a separate blog post about my wife and her accomplishments soon. Living in Logan in the winter really helped me to find my inner snowboard bum self. I didn't do very well my freshman year of school so I decided to spend three days a week at Beaver Mt. instead. So, besides winter activities what else is there to do in Logan? EAT! That's right, I have never seen more restaurants per capita in my life. I feel that this post would be amiss if I didn't give a shout out to some of the local eateries in Cache Valley. God bless the Tandoori Oven, it honestly looks like an after thought as it is connected to a gas station on 1000 N tucked away near campus. Don't be fooled Jessa and I have a fond love for this place and my compliments to the chefs', you will be sorely missed when we move. The rest of these good eats are in no particular order but must be mentioned. Herm's Inn, La Tormenta, El Salvador, Callaway's, Elements, Charlie's ice cream, Takara sushi, Romo's, and Firehouse, you had me at fahzookie. Logan has some great local eats and I will miss them dearly.

Cache Valley is home to a pretty awesome ultimate frisbee community. I have always loved playing sports but my love for ultimate grew ten fold once moving to Logan. I will miss the USULT team and the great ultimate community. Plus, Logan is a beautiful backdrop to huck some disc around.

 The mountains that surround the valley are gorgeous. Logan does a fairly good farmer's market every summer to boot. I have really enjoyed the local cheese and produce from this valley. Gossner's dairy has also become a regular in our household.

Well, to wrap up let me say "thank you" Logan. There is a lot more I could say about Logan but it's hard to sum up my last five years of my life here. It has been in eventful five years of my life. I met my wife, worked at a job I have really come to enjoy, both my kids were born here, all of our pets are from here, I've met some of my dearest friends here, some of the most stressful and tragic events have happened here, the greatest joys and happiest moments of my life have also happened here as well. I'm excited for the next step our family's life and thanks for a great five years Logan, keep it real.